Means for suspending and guiding cabinet drawers



Aug 9, 1960 l.. E. HlMELRElcH 2,948,578

MEANS FOR SUSPENDING AND GUIDING CABINET DRAWERS Filed Oct. 26, 1956 GUIDE MEMBER I2 o oJ IIUH.

lllllllllrrll111111111111 lll/ll l lll/ll INVENTOR LOUIS E. HIMELRE IC H ATTORNEY United States Patent`- C MEANS Fon sUsPENDmG AND GUmlNG CABINET DRA'wERs Filed Oct. 26, 195'6, Ser. No. 618,652

3 Claims. (Cl. S12-342) This invention relates to an improved means for suspending and guiding the rear end of a horizontally movable drawer in the drawer space of a cabinet.

Heretofore, it has been the general practice to suspend the rear end of cabinet drawers by means comprising: a guide member positioned within and mounted on the cabinet to extend over the drawer space from theV front to the rear end of the cabinet and arranged to provide a pair of correspondingly extending 4trackways;Y a pair of rollers, one for each trackway, each roller having a shaft; and bracket means for connecting therear end of the drawer to both of the roller shafts. These constructions are relatively complicated and expensive. They sometimes involve a t'ting operation which is time consuming, requires skilled carpentry and sometimes necessitates 'the' planing of the sides of the drawer or of a cabinet 1 surface in order to render the drawer freely and easily movable. v

The principal object of this invention is to provide .ran improved means for suspending and 'guiding a cabinet :drawer which enables the drawer to be installed with a :minimum of iitting work, which renders the drawer'easy :to operate, remove and replace, which prevents vthe in- :advertent removal of the drawer from the cabinet and which requires a minimum of side clearance in the drawer :space of the cabinet.

A further object is to provide an improved drawer suspension means which is more simply constructed and cheaper not only to manufacture but also to install in its properly adjusted operative position.

In carrying out my invention, I'connect the rear end of a drawer, through a simple and relatively rigid bracket assembly, to and suspend it `from a single roller within a simple Vand relatively rigid drawer guide member which is positioned within the cabinet to extend over the drawer space from the front to the rear thereof, rigidly mounted on the cabinet at its front and rear ends in a manner.

permitting ready adjustment and made of C-shape in crosssection to provide a single track.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the guide mounted in the cabinet over a drawer which is in a substantially closed position, the top of the cabinet being removed for the sake of clarity; p

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of Fig. 1 with the drawer shown vertically in transverse section;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side View showing the rear end of the drawer, which is shown vertically in elevation, adjacent the front end of the cabinet, which is shown vertically in longitudinal section; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken transversely through the guide and roller.

The cabinet 1 may be of any conventional structure having side walls 2 and 3, rear wall 4 and a front wall containing a drawenreceiving opening framed by the cabinet side walls 2 and 3 in combination with an upper ,rice

cabinet cross bar or rail 5 and a lower cabinet cross' bar orsill 6. The drawerV has side walls 7 and 8, a rear wall 9, and a front' wall 10, the bottom edge of the latter providing a suitable handle. The bottom edges of the side walls 7 andrest upon the sill 6 and slidably support the drawer thereon when the drawer is opened yand closed. The lower and upper surfaces of the drawer rail 5 and sill 6 may, if desired, be' convexly shaped asshown in Fig.'3. ln such event, the silll 6 will engage the lower edges of the side walls 7 and 8 of the drawer along relatively small points of contact and thereby minimize the frictional resistance. As noted in Figure 2, only a small side clearance is required between theA sides of the drawer and the front stiles of the cabinet, thus contributing to maximum utilization ofv cabinet space.

In' accordance with my invention, the rear end of the drawer is suspended from the cabinet by means comprising: a rigid guide member providing a single track; a roller assembly having a single roller; and a relatively rigid bracket.

' My improved guide member 12 is a rigid longitudinally extending member constructed either of plastic or of heavy gauge sheet metal, preferably the latter. It is of @shape in crosssection; hence, has a lower track 1,3,` an' upper track 14, and a longitudinally extending slot in one side wall. The lower track 13 is preferably at bottomed with downwardly converging side walls while the upper track 14 is the reverseof the lower track, i.e., hat topped .with upwardly converging side walls.

This' guide member 12 is positioned within the cabinet to extend longitudinally over the drawer space, from the front to the rear thereof, with its front and rear ends bent to provide front and rear securing anges 15 and 16 through which it may be easily and quickly but rigidly mounted rat its rear and front end respectively on therear wall F4 and front rail 5 of the cabinet. Each securing flange 15, 16 contains one or more horizontally extending adjusting slots 18 through whichit may be adjustably secured to the cabinet by suitable fastening means such as screws.. The rollerv assembly comprises: a roller; a bearing; andl a shaft. The roller'may be composed of plastic, metal or Vother suitable material.'V Preferably it isa nylon v roller 20 with. its periphery' shaped to provide, in radial cross-section, oppositelyedisposed outwardlyconverging surfaces dimensioned to insure snug rolling engagement` with` the yinner walls ofl the Vtracks 13, 14 of the guide member. Fhis roller 250 is dimensioned diametrically to ride normally in the lower track I3 with its t'op slightly spaced from the upper track 14. It has a bore to receive a porous bronze bearing 22 in the form of an open-ended cylinder. The outer periphery of this bearing 22 has a light press or frictional fit within the bore of the roller 2.0. The shaft 24 of the roller is in the form of a steel pin or stub shaft which has a running lit within the bore of the bronze bearing 22. This stub shaft 2-4 projects from one end of the bearing 22 into engagement with the bracket 26. It is rigidly connected to the bracket.

The bracket 26 is a rigid angle iron bracket having the upper end of one of its angular wall members connected to the stub shaft Z4 and the lower end of its other angular wall member rigidly connected to the rear end of the drawer. The weight of the drawer is borne by the sill 6 and by the rigid bracket and roller assembly. However, the weight of the drawer on the sill 6 tends to keep the drawer from wobbling and thus does not permit the drawer or roller to tilt transversely.

The operation of the structure is self-evident. When the drawer is pulled outwardly to its fullest extent, the upper part of bracket 26 strikes the inner face of rail 5 and thereby prevents the inadvertent removal of the drawer from the cabinet. In removing the drawer from v v3 y the cabinet, the operator opens the drawer to its fullest extent and then raises its front end until its lower rear corner clears the sill 6. This causes the roller 20 to drop through an opening 2S which was formed inthe bottom ofthe guidelZ by removing the extreme front end portion of its lower track 13. When the roller clears the rail 5, the drawer is completely detached from the cabinet. Y Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a cabinet having a drawer entrance opening in a side thereof and defined in part by a lower sill, a drawer movable through said opening in contact with said sill, a drawer guide located generally horizontally and centrally within said cabinet and parallel to the axis of movement of said drawer, said guide comprising an elongated member of generally `G-shaped cross section, `the interior uppersurface of which provides an upper track portion and the interior lower surface of which provides a lower track portion, the edges ofthe open side of said member having a slot therebetween receiving a shaft having an axis generally normal to the axis of said guide, a single roller rotatably mounted at one extreme end of said shaft for self-centering engagementwith said tracks during movement of said drawer, said roller and said upper and lower track portions having cooperating surfaces which hold said roller in centered-position within said guide, said roller being adapted to roll in one angular direction during a portion of the movement of said drawer and in contact with said lower track and to shift position and to roll in an opposite angular direction in contact with said upper track during another portion of the movement of said drawer, said roller havinga diameter greater than the width of said slot and being insertable into operative position within said guide by displacement thereinto endwise of said guide, a bracket having one end mounted upon a rear wall of said drawer and serving as a support for said drawer, the free end of said bracket being attached to the other end of said shaft, said shaft having a length Vsufficient to dispose said bracket out of contact at all times with said guide and said roller having a radial cross-sectional coniiguration serving to center said roller upon the appropriate track as it shifts position from one track to the other during movement of said drawer, thereby to maintain said bracket constantly out of oontact withsaid guide and to provide silent operation of said drawer during movement. 2.. A' structure as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said upper and lower tracks include a transverse crosssection engageable in partially enveloping relation with the radial cross-section of said roller thereby to assist in the self-centering of said roller on said tracks.

3. A center drawer guide for centrally supporting and guiding the rear end of a horizontally movable drawer in the drawer space of a cabinet, comprising: a rigid horizontally elongate member of rC-shaped cross section providing, in one of its vertical side faces, a horizontally elongate slot exposing its horizontally elongate interior, the vertical dimension of which between its uppermost and lowermostpar'ts, is relatively greater than the vertical width dimension of said slot, said member being adapted for placement within and rigid securement to the interior of said cabinet in a location wherein it is in substantial vertical alignment with the longitudinal mid-portion of said drawer space and being operative, when secured, to provide a C-shaped drawer guide extending longitudinally along said drawer space in a horizontal direction paralleling the path of drawer movement, a lower rear half of the interior of said C-shaped guide being shaped tovprovide a horizontally extending lower track having, in vertical cross section, oppositely-disposed, downwardlyconverging track surfaces and an upper front half of the interior of said IC-shaped guide being shaped to provide, in vertical cross-section, oppositely-disposed, upwardlyconverging track surfaces,.anotl1er rigid member adapted for rigid lsecurement to the rear end of saiddrawer and operative, when secured, to provide a bracket projecting vertically to the slotted face of said IC-shaped guide and spaced laterally therefrom sufficiently to remain out of contact therewith during the drawer-carried movement of the bracket along the `C-shaped guide; a stub shaft secured to the projecting end of said bracket to project horizontally through said slot into said `C-shaped guide, lsaid shaft being spaced vertically from'the slot forming portions of said (2-shaped guide sufficiently to remain out of Contact therewith during the drawer-carried movement of the bracket therealong; and a roller located in the interior of said C-shaped guide and rotationally supported by said shaft for rolling engagement with the rear half of said lower track or the front half of said upper track depending upon the direction of movement of said drawer, the periphery of said roller being shaped to provide in radial cross section, oppositely-disposed, outwardly-converging track-engaging surfaces.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,896,346 BolhuisI Feb. 7, 1933 2,223,071 Koch Nov. 26, 1940 2,719,772 Petkwitz Oct. 4, 1955 2,726,420 Kemp Dec. 13, '1955 

